Bali airport stays shut but Lombok reopens

28 / 11 / 2017

Bali’s international airport remains shut for a second day due to the threat of a volcanic eruption from Mount Agung.
The Indonesian authorities have extended the shutdown to at least 07:00 local time (00:00 GMT) Wednesday 29 November.
However, the airport on the neighbouring island of Lombok has been re-opened.
Carriers including Cathay Pacific, Air France KLM, Qantas, Virgin, Air Asia, Jetstar and Garuda Indonesia have cancelled all flights to and from Denpasar Ngurah Rai airport for fear that volcanic ash could damage engines.
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) meanwhile said that the closure of Denpasar airport has led to considerable disruption to airline operations. Carriers have had to divert some flights already en route and cancel or reschedule many others.
It said that affected airlines are closely monitoring developments.
AAPA continued: “Reopening of Denpasar airport will very much depend on changes to the prevailing weather conditions, including the north-easterly winds which have spread the volcanic ash clouds from Mount Agung to cover an extended area of Bali including the airport.
"In addition, the relevant air navigation service provider will need to be satisfied that the related air navigation corridors can be made available for use by airline operators.”
The final decision to operate rests with individual airlines, AAPA said, based on specific operational factors, such as flight duration, availability of alternate airports and crew resources at various airports.